Infineon launches 3-D sensor for gesture recognition

LONDON – Infineon Technologies AG (Munich, Germany) has introduced a family of 3-D image sensor chips designed to implement touchless gesture recognition. The sensors have been developed in cooperation with fabless chip company PMD Technologies GmbH (Siegen, Germany), a specialist in CMOS-based time-of-flight imaging sensors.

The chips are the first to combine a 3-D image sensing pixel array with the digital conversion and control functionality needed to design compact and accurate monocular systems for gesture recognition, Infineon said.

The Infineon 3-D image sensor chips will enable fast and reliable tracking of finger movements and hand gestures to complement today’s touch screen and mouse or stylus user interfaces. It currently includes two members: the IRS1010C has a resolution of 160 by 120 pixels and the IRS1020C which has a resolution of 352 by 288 pixels. Both are dynamically configurable via an I2C interface, allowing adjustment in real time to changing lighting and operating conditions. The chips are delivered as bare die for integration with camera lens and infrared illumination source in a camera module.

Infineon has produced a reference design based on the chip that it claims is the smallest 3-D image sensing camera available.

"The
consolidation of the existing and mature Time-of-Flight 3D sensing
know-how at PMD and the volume-proven, mixed-signal CMOS process
technology and design expertise of Infineon will pave the way to the
best possible user experience for touchless gesture recognition
applications," said Bernd Buxbaum, CEO of PMD Technologies, in a
statement issued by Infineon.

"We expect touch-less gesture
interfaces based on our 3-D image sensor to change the user experience
and enhance productivity the same way that the mouse did decades ago
with the PC," said Ralf Bornefeld, general manager of the sense and
control business line at Infineon, in the same statement.

Samples
of the gesture ensors are available for development of 3-D camera
systems with volume production scheduled for mid-2014. Also available is
the CamBoard Pico reference design, a USB-powered QQVGA resolution 3-D
camera based on the IRS1010C 3-D image sensor. The CamBoard Pico
measures 85-mm by 17-mm by 8-mm.

"The consolidation of the existing and mature Time-of-Flight 3D sensing know-how at PMD and the volume-proven, mixed-signal CMOS process technology and design expertise of Infineon will pave the way to the best possible user experience for touchless gesture recognition applications," said Bernd Buxbaum, CEO of PMD Technologies, in a statement issued by Infineon.

"We expect touch-less gesture interfaces based on our 3-D image sensor to change the user experience and enhance productivity the same way that the mouse did decades ago with the PC," said Ralf Bornefeld, general manager of the sense and control business line at Infineon, in the same statement.

Samples of the gesture ensors are available for development of 3-D camera systems with volume production scheduled for mid-2014. Also available is the CamBoard Pico reference design, a USB-powered QQVGA resolution 3-D camera based on the IRS1010C 3-D image sensor. The CamBoard Pico measures 85-mm by 17-mm by 8-mm.